In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The story of Maryam, the daughter of 'Imran,
peace be upon her:
Maryam’s trust in Allah’s support for her.
Once Maryam (peace be upon her) felt reassured in her soul,
she carried her newborn child
and headed toward her people with complete confidence
that Allah would grant her victory and support,
and that He would take care of her affairs.
Allah Almighty said:
“Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing.” (19:27)
Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Allah—exalted is His mention—states:
'When 'Isa said that to his mother,
her soul became reassured,
she submitted to Allah's decree,
and she carried him until she brought him to her people.'"
Al-Tahir ibn 'Ashur (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"She came openly carrying him, not concealing him,
because she knew that Allah would clear her
of any accusations leveled against someone in her circumstance."
Thus, it is incumbent upon the Muslim woman
to trust in Allah’s promise
that whoever supports His religion, He will surely grant them victory.
Allah Almighty said:
"O you who have believed..."
“O ye who believe! If ye help Allah, He will help you and will make your foothold firm.” (47:7)
Al-Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"This is a command from Allah Almighty to the believers
to support Allah by establishing His religion,
calling unto it,
striving against His enemies,
and intending thereby the countenance of Allah.
For if they do so,
Allah will grant them victory and make their feet firm,
by strengthening their hearts
with patience, tranquility, and steadfastness,
granting their bodies endurance in that struggle,
and helping them against their enemies.
This is a promise from the Generous One, Who is true to His promise:
that whoever supports Him through words and actions,
their Protector will surely grant them victory
and facilitate for them the means of triumph, such as steadfastness and more."
Among the most important ways of supporting the religion of Allah Almighty
is remaining steadfast upon it.
Indeed, Allah Almighty praised the steadfastness of the Companions
through the most harrowing ordeal they ever faced,
saying:
“Of the believers are men who are true to that which they covenanted with Allah. Some of them have paid their vow by death (in battle), and some of them still are waiting; and they have not altered in the least;” (33:23)
“Of the believers are men who are true to that which they covenanted with Allah. Some of them have paid their vow by death (in battle), and some of them still are waiting; and they have not altered in the least;” (33:23)
“Of the believers are men who are true to that which they covenanted with Allah. Some of them have paid their vow by death (in battle), and some of them still are waiting; and they have not altered in the least;” (33:23)
"And among them are those who wait,
and they have not altered [their commitment] in the least."
This momentous ordeal that the noble Companions endured
was detailed by Allah in Surah al-Ahzab—
the very surah that addresses the most essential legal rulings pertaining to you,
namely the hijab within homes,
wearing the jilbab outside the home,
the prohibition of tabarruj (wanton display) and softness in speech,
and Allah’s choice for you to remain settled in the home
so that your soul may find stability and peace,
without prohibiting you from leaving the home
for your personal and psychological needs.
This surah, in which Allah clarified the rulings specific to you
and outlined the ordeal of the Companions, described it by saying:
“When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when eyes grew wild and hearts reached to the throats, and ye were imagining vain thoughts concerning Allah.” (33:10)
"...and from below you,
and when eyes shifted [in fear],
and hearts reached the throats,
and you assumed about Allah various assumptions.
There the believers were tested
and severely shaken."
It is this very same surah that exposed your most dangerous enemies,
who lie in wait for you to entice and mislead you,
and to divert you from your religion;
namely, the hypocrites,
those in whose hearts is a disease,
and the agitators in society.
These are the ones who wage war against
the rulings that Allah has legislated for you,
so Allah threatened them with the direst warnings,
saying:
“And those who malign believing men and believing women undeservedly, they bear the guilt of slander and manifest sin.” (33:58)
"...without their having earned it,
they have surely taken upon themselves a slander
and a manifest sin.
O Prophet!
Tell your wives, your daughters,
and the women of the believers
to draw down over themselves
their outer garments (jalabib).
That is more suitable that they should be known
and not be abused.
And Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
If the hypocrites do not cease,
and those in whose hearts is a disease,
and the agitators
in al-Madinah,
We will surely incite you against them,
“If the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, and the alarmists in the city do not cease, We verily shall urge thee on against them, then they will be your neighbours in it but a little while.” (33:60)
then they will not remain your neighbors therein except for a little,
accursed;
wherever they are found,
they will be seized and utterly killed.
Such was the Sunnah of Allah regarding those who passed away before,
and you will never find in the Sunnah of Allah any change."
What is required of you, my noble sister,
is to remain steadfast upon the truth,
to comply with the purified law of Allah,
and to trust in Allah's promise of retribution against this criminal faction
that strives to corrupt the daughters of the Muslims.
Maryam (peace be upon her)
confronted her people with a child born without a husband,
while she was tranquil and fully confident in Allah’s victory for her,
because this was what Allah had decreed for her
so that she and her child would be a sign for the worlds.
Yet the reaction of her people upon her arrival carrying the child
was immense indeed;
they denounced it with the severest condemnation
and showered her with harsh reprimands,
for they harbored the worst assumptions about her.
Allah described their stance toward her, saying:
"Then she brought him to her people, carrying him.
“Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing.” (19:27)
They said, 'O sister of Harun, your father was not a man of evil,
your father was not a man of evil,
nor was your mother an unchaste woman.'"
Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Allah Almighty relates concerning Maryam,
when she was commanded to fast on that day
and not to speak to any human being,
that she would be spared the burden of defending herself, as her proof would be established for her.
So she submitted to the command of Allah Almighty
and surrendered to His decree;
she took her child and brought him to her people, carrying him.
When they saw her in that state, they regarded the matter as monstrous
and denounced it vehemently,
saying: 'O Maryam, you have certainly brought an unprecedented thing'—
meaning, a dreadful deed."
Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"When they saw Maryam
and saw with her the child she had delivered,
they said to her:
'O Maryam, you have certainly brought an astounding thing,
and committed a grave offense.'"
One should not be surprised by the reaction of her people
based on what they assumed she had done,
for people's denunciation of an abominable act,
such as the obscenity of fornication,
is an indicator of societal well-being and the uprightness of its people.
The greater catastrophe
would have been had they not denounced her arrival,
regarding it instead as personal freedom
as contemporary societies advocate today.
For this is indeed the true calamity:
that the feelings of the people become desensitized
and their senses dulled when witnessing evil,
so that they do not condemn it;
then the child grows up accustomed to that,
until they view it as the truth
and whatever opposes it as falsehood.
O my dear sister,
among the demands of your steadfastness upon the truth
is your denunciation of evil.
For it is not sufficient merely to be righteous in yourself,
within your own personal affairs,
while leaving the evils around you without denouncing them.
Indeed, this was among the reasons why the Children of Israel were cursed.
Allah Almighty said:
“Those of the Children of Israel who went astray were cursed by the tongue of David, and of Jesus, son of Mary. That was because they rebelled and used to transgress.” (5:78)
"...by the tongue of Dawud and 'Isa, the son of Maryam.
That was because they disobeyed and used to transgress.
They used not to prevent one another from wrongdoing that they did."
“They restrained not one another from the wickedness they did. Verily evil was that they used to do!” (5:79)
Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Al-'Awfi reported from Ibn 'Abbas:
'They were cursed in the Torah, the Gospel,
the Psalms, and the Furqan (the Qur'an).'
Then He explained their condition regarding what they routinely practiced in their time,
so Allah Almighty said:
“They restrained not one another from the wickedness they did. Verily evil was that they used to do!” (5:79)
“They restrained not one another from the wickedness they did. Verily evil was that they used to do!” (5:79)
meaning that none of them would forbid another
from committing sins and prohibited deeds.
Then He censured them for that,
in order to warn against committing the likes of what they committed,
so He said:
“They restrained not one another from the wickedness they did. Verily evil was that they used to do!” (5:79)
This means, my dear sister,
that it is inappropriate for you to have a friend who is utterly immodest in her tabarruj,
while you go out and spend time with her,
yet she never hears a single word of sincere counsel from you—
not even once—
denouncing her wanton display;
nor should one say: 'Every person is responsible only for themselves.'
For when the people in the era of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him)
misunderstood the words of Allah Almighty:
“O ye who believe! Ye have charge of your own souls. He who erreth cannot injure you if ye are rightly guided. Unto Allah ye will all return; and then He will inform you of what ye used to do.” (5:105)
“O ye who believe! Ye have charge of your own souls. He who erreth cannot injure you if ye are rightly guided. Unto Allah ye will all return; and then He will inform you of what ye used to do.” (5:105)
'...to Allah is your return all together,
and He will inform you of what you used to do,'
taking it contrary to its correct meaning,
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq stood among them
to clarify the proper meaning,
saying:
'O people!
Indeed, you recite this verse,
“O ye who believe! Ye have charge of your own souls. He who erreth cannot injure you if ye are rightly guided. Unto Allah ye will all return; and then He will inform you of what ye used to do.” (5:105)
“O ye who believe! Ye have charge of your own souls. He who erreth cannot injure you if ye are rightly guided. Unto Allah ye will all return; and then He will inform you of what ye used to do.” (5:105)
but I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say:
"When people see an oppressor
and do not seize him by his hands,
Allah will soon encompass them all with a punishment from Him."'
Reported by al-Tirmidhi.
When the people of Maryam (peace be upon her)
saw her carrying an infant, they spoke to her as they did
“Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing.” (19:27)
Because the only scenario they knew in such a case
was that if an unmarried woman became pregnant,
she became pregnant through fornication.
Ash-Shinqiti, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"What is understood from the Qur'anic verses
is that their intent by their words
“Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing.” (19:27)
meaning: a monstrous, unprecedented thing.
For the word *fariyya* is of the form *fa'il*, derived from *firyat* (fabrication),
meaning by it fornication.
Because a child born of fornication is like something fabricated and falsely attributed,
as the fornicatress seeks to attribute it to one who is not its father.
And what proves that their intent by their words 'an unprecedented thing'
was fornication,
is the statement of Allah Almighty:
“And because of their disbelief and of their speaking against Mary a tremendous calumny;” (4:156)
because that 'monstrous slander'—which was their claim that she had committed fornication
and brought forth 'Isa from that fornication,
far removed be both she and he from such a thing—
is what was meant by their address to her.
“Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing.” (19:27)
And what further indicates this is the statement of Allah Almighty following it:
'O sister of Harun,'
“O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.” (19:28)
“O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.” (19:28)
and a *baghiyy* is a fornicatress, as mentioned previously;
meaning: both your parents were chaste and would never commit indecency,
so why did you commit it?"
Indeed, cloaking the obscenity of fornication in euphemisms that lessen its hideousness in society
does not alter the reality at all.
Calling fornication an "illicit relationship"
is merely intended to soften the listener's perception of the crime's sheer ugliness,
because the explicit word *zina* pains their hearts and troubles them,
reminding them of the Islamic Sharia and the prescribed penalties (*hudud*) within it.
So they altered its designation to this drawn-out phrase.
A similar example is calling a child born of fornication a child of "unknown parentage,"
to cushion the enormity of the evil and its painful consequences for society.
And this has dragged them into even greater calamities,
namely, facilitating the obscenity of fornication in society
under the pretext that it is a personal matter pertaining to the woman,
that a woman owns her own body,
and that she has the complete freedom to do with it as she pleases.
This, in turn, dragged them into legalizing abortion
on the pretext that a woman's body belongs to her,
and that she alone decides when to become pregnant
and when to abort her fetus.
In this lies a tremendous facilitation of the obscenity of fornication.
In fact, matters have gone far beyond that,
to the point where there are now within public health sectors
dedicated guidelines on what is termed "safe sex,"
in which they explain to a young woman how to engage in fornication
without risk of pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.
The same applies to similar terminology;
these are all sanitized euphemisms
designed to disguise the obscenity of fornication and ease its spread in societies.
Indeed, the denunciation by the people of Maryam, peace be upon her,
of the obscenity of fornication—
and far removed was Maryam from ever falling into it—
is evidence of the health of that society
in which Maryam lived, in terms of its absolute refusal to accept
such a vile and obscene crime.